{"id":38156,"date":"2014-12-27t05:00:31","date_gmt":"2014-12-27t10:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/48e130086c.nxcli.net\/?p=38156"},"modified":"2024-09-01t14:48:50","modified_gmt":"2024-09-01t18:48:50","slug":"accounting-marketing-takes-a-new-step-in-the-evolutionary-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/2014\/12\/27\/accounting-marketing-takes-a-new-step-in-the-evolutionary-process\/","title":{"rendered":"accounting marketing takes a new step in the evolutionary process"},"content":{"rendered":"

learn how to recognize and participate profitably in the incoming tide.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

by bruce w. marcus
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

professional services marketing 3.0? this from someone who has written, spoken, railed against jargon and gimmicks?<\/p>\n

well, yes, because in this rapidly changing economic environment, intensely competitive landscape and highly charged computer age, it\u2019s the best way to define significant evolution from one distinct period to the next. but, that\u2019s exactly what\u2019s happened \u2013 and is happening \u2013 with cpa firms. and in management practices, business models and structure as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

the first stage of course \u2013 professional services marketing 1.0\u00a0<\/em>\u2013 was the u.s. supreme court\u2019s decision in bates v. state bar of arizona<\/em>, which, in 1977, struck down the longstanding and traditional codes of ethics and rules of professional conduct that prohibited any form of promotion or commercialization. in one stroke, it wiped out the many generations of practice development achieved almost solely by social contact. the word compete<\/em> was considered an obscenity.<\/p>\n

but competition, and all that it entails, turned out to be at the heart of bates<\/em>. the ability to compete, using as a foundation traditional techniques of marketing, ultimately and significantly altered the nature of accounting firm practices. it began a course of evolution that brought us to the modern firms we see today. in other words, it brought meaningful change beyond the decision itself.<\/p>\n

marketing 2.0<\/em> is the period \u2013 we\u2019re still in it \u2013 in which the techniques of accounting marketing have been somewhat refined, and in which marketing has begun to evolve into a common practice now accepted by most once-reluctant accountants. these techniques were not originally in the arsenal of most cpa firms, and for most accountants the new techniques had to be learned. what was hardest to learn, it seems, was that the traditional practices and techniques used in product marketing had little currency in accounting marketing \u2013 and new techniques, predicated on the distinctive qualities of accounting, had to be developed.<\/p>\n

the accountants, to whom anything in their practices other than accounting was anathema, long fought against accepting the professionalism of the new marketing practitioners. \u201cmarketing?\u201d they would say in those early days, \u201cyeah, we\u2019ve got a girl down the hall who does that.\u201d there are still, unfortunately, those who have yet to accept marketing as integral to practice management. marketers, in those early days, had to spend an inordinate amount of their time selling marketing to the firm\u2019s accountants. marketing was defined by the accountants in those days by its mythology. \u201cpublic relations? that\u2019s free advertising, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/em> no, it isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

if there\u2019s one thing that has inhibited innovation and growth in professional services marketing in the decades since bates<\/em>, it\u2019s the disconnect between marketers and the accountants they serve. while too many marketers are content to accept that disconnect, and practice their craft virtually by rote, others fight back \u2013 and sometimes win.<\/p>\n

but that negative attitude seems to be changing, at least because since bates<\/em>, the days of the accountants who consistently spoke and thought of marketing as some kind of alien practice that they want no part of are dwindling. a new generation of accountant has grown into positions of authority in the firms. these are accountants who understand that marketing is as integral to a practice as are accounting libraries and cash flow management. this new breed of professionals understands that the environment in which they practice is tempered by competition, and that fighting competition isn\u2019t accomplished casually. there are christian payne\u2019s remarkably innovative cpa firm and the contemporary firm seiler llp.<\/p>\n

an interesting characteristic about accounting marketing is that it can only be done with the full participation of the accountants. not true, though, in product marketing. the accountants must supply the grist for the marketing mills. the auto and cereal companies don\u2019t have to rely on the people on the line to market. the problem with that is that when every marketing idea is a hard sell within an accounting firm, when every partner has something to say and says it, a lot of marketing ideas don\u2019t get into play. the accountants had trouble understanding that they must be as conversant in marketing practice as the marketing professionals, and that marketing professionals must be substantially conversant in professional firm management. that\u2019s what marketing 2.0<\/em> has been like, and is only now beginning to change. and here we begin to see the beginning of a new era \u2013 professional services marketing 3.0<\/em>.<\/p>\n

but evolution often has a life of its own, and what should be is often what will be. with new generations of professionals moving into positions of authority \u2013 accountants not totally imbued with, nor inhibited by, the traditions of their elders \u2013 what is emerging, then, is marketing 3.0<\/em>. it is the next stage of the evolution, and while its seeds are in the past three decades since bates<\/em>, it portends substantial change for both the marketers and the accountants. this, i might add, is not conjecture, but demonstrable fact.<\/p>\n

professional services marketing 3.0<\/em> brings us the accountant who is now completely conversant with the role of marketing in the practice, the techniques of marketing and the role of the professional marketer. where, under 2.0, it was the professional versus the marketer, we now begin to see the accountant\/marketer \u2013 in a new partnership.<\/p>\n

what we see, also, are new kinds of firms, with new configurations, developed to improve productivity and client service. we see new attitudes by the professionals, and new professional-marketer relationships. it\u2019s a new step in the evolutionary process.<\/p>\n

that\u2019s what this era is about \u2013 how to learn to swim to shore in a churning and turbulent sea of evolution and change. how to recognize and participate profitably in the incoming tide. how to use your own resources to survive and thrive when your competitors are drowning in a sea of despair. how to find and sow the seeds of opportunity in the midst of crisis. how to survive as the future unfolds.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n